Acts
by ValandMarcelle
Summary: In which pivotal moments from the movie are explored through second-person viewpoints of the characters. Chapter 2: the final moments of Tadashi Hamada. (Previously entitled "The Act of Letting Go", now extended into a series)
1. The Act of Letting Go

**Hello everyone! This is my first venture into the Big Hero 6 fandom, aka the movie that ruined me. In my emotional distress, I was somehow motivated to write this little sad one-shot, which is in the 2nd person point of view of Hiro. I'm sorry for the sadness, but expect more from me in the future!**

**Enjoy!**

**-Marcelle**

* * *

Your carefully crafted armor now floats in the bright space around you, and it's then that you see Baymax as Tadashi had intended him. Baymax blinks at you with those round eyes, and you know that he wants nothing more than to help. But he can't this time.

The portal is closing, your friends are waiting for your triumphant return on the other side, but it's slowly beginning to dawn on you that you're going to fail them. You're going to let everyone down.

_Look for a new angle._ It's what Tadashi always preached, and you want more than ever to hear his encouragement now. But you've tried everything, haven't you? Baymax can't help anymore, there's nothing - _nothing - _left to be done. Until, suddenly, the nothing turns into something.

Baymax is holding out his fist, the one that will eject and shoot off into space at your command. You remember how proud you were of your creation, how much cooler you considerd Baymax when he had become a crime-figting machine rather than a robot nurse. You had turned him into something he was never meant to be, but now you're staring at the product of Tadashi's own efforts and kindness. Baymax is just Baymax again.

"I cannot deactivate until you say you're satisfied with your care."

Of course, he's trying to save you and Abigail, and he's not considering himself. So you do it for him.

"No, no, no - wait. What about you?"

"You are my patient."

"B-Baymax-"

"Your health is my only concern."

Your mind is racing now, speeding uncontrollably with equal amounts of frustration and fear. You have to get out, you know you do. But it will not be at the expense of Baymax.

He keeps asking you that same question, over and over again. _Are you satisfied with your care?_

But you don't answer him, you can't. Because if you do, then you don't only lose Baymax, but you lose your big brother a second time.

You're supposed to be a prodigy, aren't you? You're supposed to be some genuis who can think your way out of any situation. So why can't you think of anything now? Why is your mind consumed with thoughts of Tadashi and what he would have wanted?

Baymax is all you have left of your brother, but more than that, you consider Tadashi's dumb robot to be just as much a part of your family as Tadashi was. As he still is.

So you can't do it, you can't just let Baymax go because Baymax is Tadashi and you won't lose Tadashi, you can't, not again...

"Hiro. I will always be with you."

Suddenly, you stop. You stop and you look right at Baymax, and you know what you have do. Baymax is only serving his purpose, and if you ever loved him - which you have - then you have to let him. If you don't let him do this, then you are undermining everything you've done up until now. You'll abandon your friends, you'll let Aunt Cass lose even more of her family, you'll condemn Abigail to drift forever in the endless expanse of the portal.

You'll fail Tadashi, and you'll fail Baymax.

And you can't do that.

You throw your arms around your personal health care provider one last time, your heart heavy and your eyes blurred with the prospect of your next move. But it's the only thing left to do.

_I found the angle, Tadashi. Just like you said._

"I'm satisfied with my care."


	2. The Act of Leaving

**Guess who's back? After I wrote The Act of Letting Go, I was thinking of all of the other scenarios and moments in the film that I could explore from the second person point of view of different characters. So I decided to turn this into a series! *cheering* **

**Unfortunately, I knew this was coming. It's sad, it's soul-crushing, but it's time to talk about Tadashi. This chapter is from his second person viewpoint, and I think you'll recognize the scene soon enough.**

**Whoops.**

**-Marcelle**

* * *

The cool night air is refreshing as you gaze out over the balcony of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. The sky is a deep blue, like that of the ocean, a nice contrast against the bright stars that are beginning to blink into sight. You hear you brother following you as you learn against the railing, and he's drawling on in some ridiculous impression of your voice.

He makes you sound precocious and full of yourself, but you can't be bothered by it. You never are.

Hiro is always poking fun at your studious manner, mocking the many hours you spend in the "nerd lab" and the effort you put into your schoolwork. You think it's funny, really, if only for the fact that Hiro has no idea what it's like to actually study. It must be one of the perks of his being a boy genius, everything comes naturally to him. But you couldn't be prouder of him tonight, and so you let him have his fun. He deserves it.

Of course, you can't help but return the favor, and you smirk as Hiro hurriedly checks his fly to see if you're lying. He punches you in irritation when he sees that it really is down, which only draws a laugh from you in return. But soon you're grinning again, your eyes scanning the beautiful campus laid out before you, one you've come to love and one you can finally share.

"Welcome to Nerd School...nerd."

Hiro grins back at you, and for a moment you're overwhelmed by how much he's grown. You remember when he was just three years old, so tiny when your parents died, so small that you promised yourself that you would protect him from anything, no matter what it took. You were only seven years old, but you had never been more sure of anything in your entire life-you would never give up on Hiro.

You've wanted to, of course, several times throughout the years. Hiro's transition out of the toddler phase and into elementary school was rough, his struggles as a child prodigy combined with the weight of your own schoolwork enough to make you wish Hiro could just be like any other normal kid.

You wished he wouldn't be bullied no matter how quickly he skipped grade levels, wished that Aunt Cass knew at least a little more about parenting than what she read in magazines, although you knew she was trying her hardest. After all, you knew from personal experience that raising a genius like Hiro is far from easy. But still, you refuse to give up.

And you're glad that you don't, because Hiro graduates high school at thirteen years old and still has no idea what he's doing. You're disappointed when he gets wrapped up in the bot fights, because you think that they're not only illegal but pointless. Why should Hiro waste time proving that he's the best when he could be focusing his natural talents on something that you know could be revolutionary?

You try night and day to drive this ideal through his thick skull, and a seed of understanding must have eventually found it's way through. Because soon Hiro is building microbot after microbot, and you know that he's going to change the world.

Professor Callaghan must have thought so, too, and now you're going to be able to work side by side with your brother in a place that you couldn't imagine life without. When Hiro smiles at you, you know he's made it to a point in his life where he's finally happy with himself, and it makes you happy, too.

This is your little brother, the prodigy, and you simply can't be more proud of him than you are now.

"Hey, I, um...I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so..." Hiro trails off, a rare bashfulness overcoming him that you don't think you've ever seen before. But you know he'll get over it soon enough, so you let him continue without mentioning it. "You know...thanks for not giving up on me."

Of course you wouldn't have given up. You never give up on anything you love. Hiro has to know that.

But you merely grin again in return, cherishing this moment you have with Hiro before the sirens interrupt and your world comes crashing down.

You turn your head towards the high, blarring sound, which is now being accompanied by a chorus of screams. Something is very wrong.

It hardly feels like a second has passed before you're dashing away from the balcony railing and back to the science wing. The building itself has transformed into a column of flame, the heat hitting you in waves as you draw nearer. The shouts you heard before should have prepared you for the sight that now meets your eyes, but still the shock overwhelms you.

Smoke is pouring thorugh the windows and the smoldering embers are consuming the doorways, and you can't help but freeze with the horror of it all. You vaguely register Hiro coming to a stop behind you, clearly as terrified as you are, but you know you don't have time to think on it any farther.

Soon, you're up and running again, weaving in between the panicked flights of those who have escaped the inferno and eventually catching a stumbling girl in your arms.

"Are you okay?"

She coughs, and your grip on her arm steadies, but she finally catches her breath enough to answer you.

"Yeah, I'm okay...b-but Professor Callaghan is still in there!"

The girl breaks free of your grasp without another word, sprinting away from the fire, and you barely have to rethink your next move. Professor Callaghan has given you every opportunity for success, and you owe him everything. It's time you paid your debt. If no one else is going to help him, then you will.

You would be the only one heading in the direction of the fire, you realize, if Hiro wasn't right on your tail. Your every instinct tells you not to turn around, but merely to keep Hiro back from the flames, but you know that to stop and argue with your brother even for the briefest of moments could cost Professor Callaghan his life.

And you're almost to the steps-you're almost there!-before a hand grabs your arm and pulls you back. Of course, it's Hiro, and something inside of you almost breaks when you hear his voice.

"Tadashi, no!"

He didn't even need to say it, the look of desperation on his face screams it for him.

_No_.

Hiro is searching your striken expression, pleading with you with those big brown eyes of his, eyes that have always been able to convince you of anything. You would do anything for those eyes.

And you stop for a moment, looking back at the flames and back to Hiro again, the thought of what you're about to do fully hitting you for the first time, socking you in the gut and making you wince. You're going to run head-on to a burning building, searching for a man that could very well be dead already. You're putting not only your life on the line, but Hiro's, too.

Because if you die in there, then you leave Hiro to face the same grief that wracked you after your parent's death. And you want to spare him from that. Hasn't your mantra always been to protect Hiro? Isn't to run from him now to give up on him?

But still, someone could die if you don't act now. You have every opportunity to do something, and if Professor Callaghan doesn't make it, you know it follow you for the rest of your days.

"Callaghan's in there. Someone has to help."

So you pull your arm away from Hiro and rush up the stairs. You don't look back, because if you look back at Hiro then you will undoubtedly loose your resolve. You just hope he doesn't follow you.

The lobby is devoured by the spiraling flames, and you can't find Professor Callaghan in the excruiating brightness that surrounds you. Seconds go by that feel like centuries, and it's then that you hear a small, almost indistinguishable beeping sound.

You feel the blood drain from your face. You know what that is, and you've run out of time.

What have you done?

_Hiro. Hiro, I'm sorry. I never meant for-_

You never get to finish your apology.

**Tadashi Hamada's death broke me, so I had to write about it. Be sure to leave suggestions for other character viewpoints or scenes in a review! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
